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Just about everything is made in China now. Refusing to buy something because it's made in China doesn't make sense. If that's the case go ahead and get rid of just about everything in your home that you own, including your appliances and cell phone. You may be left with a coffee table when you're done.

Oakleys are awesome regardless of where they're made so I will keep buying them.
 
Azeddine,

A lot of the humor this thread has generated is because Oakleys made in China is a topic that's been beat around this forum quite a bit already. Here's a post that does a great job explaining the current situation:
http://www.oakleyforum.com/threads/some-misconceptions-cleared-up-on-oakleys-from-china.29231/

You're right... and consider this; Not everyone has been a part of the older discussions, especially new members, like me or the OP, who just now discovered the once proud "Made in USA" is now long gone.

It used to be written in large capital letters on every Oakley frame, loud and clear, and was part of what defined Oakley imho, and thus warrants serious debate. When my wife asks me how I can spend hundereds of dollars on sunglasses, I tell her because it's not that usual cheap China crap, it's about quality, innovation and identity. Not going to use that argument again.

Personally, I do understand the concept of business, and making money, and the motivation behind producing goods in China, but it doesn't mean I like it, or want to support it. I do belive Lux has made a huge mistake with the decision, because they're ignorant and because the costumes in charge don't understand what the soul of Oakley is.
 
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and consider this; Not everyone has been a part of the older discussions, especially new members, like me or the OP, who just now discovered the once proud "Made in USA" is now long gone.

Yes, and it hasn't been that long since I was a new member, too. That was not meant as a criticism but as an explanation.

Personally, I don't have strong feelings either way whether new members just post away with their questions or first do their research with the search function; I'm always glad to help if I can.

But many of the senior members get tired / frustrated with answering the same question again and again when the OP could have answered it themselves by simply doing a search first, and you will see replies along those lines when it happens.
 
Got a meme for that.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405450892.005531.jpg
 
Pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that Oakley built its success based on "Made in USA", the other items were always made in China, and priced accordingly. :cool-20:

I don't know if making products in the USA is what Oakley built it's success on. There are many companies that build crap in the USA, so that doesn't necessarily make the product good.

I think Oakley built it's success on innovation and creativity, otherwise known as "Mad Science." If Oakleys were manufactured oversees from day one do you think they would not be where they are today? Doubtful. People loved the innovation and creativity in the Oakley products and Oakley formed themselves an identifiable brand.

And just to be clear, many other products by Oakley were made overseas way before O Matter frames made the move. Clothing is made in different factories across the world, acetate and wire frames have been made in China for as long as they have existed (as far as I know), and watches are swiss made. Yeah, being "Made in USA" added to the cool factor, but at least they don't have a big "Made in China" stamp on the O Matter frames now! Who knows, maybe 10 years from know China's production quality will exceed those of our local manufacturers since so much money is being sent that way. Perhaps "Made in China" will be the cool factor in the future...
 
Not being American, the whole "Made in USA" thing was never the biggest draw with Oakleys anyway - it was more about the being different from the establishment vibe, with the establishment being the likes of RayBan. There had to be quality behind it too - it's no good rebelling against the norm without having the quality chops to back it up. Neither am I dead set against Chinese manufacture - my iPhone may be designed in Cupertino but it sure as hell ain't made there!

China has been a manufacturing base for a long time now, it's not as if Oakley is on an early adoption curve. It's not even the cheapest place to manufacture any longer, but it has enough of a price/quality relationship to still work for a lot of companies. Even precision moulded plastics work to tolerances, like most manufacturing - I'd be inherently more concerned if Oakley had slackened those off intentionally than I would about the manufacturing base moving. Quality comes with time too - BMW started its car-making activities making Austin 7s under licence, Japan slavishly copying the West (radios, cars and the like) and it's not hard to argue that in both cases the quality eventually passed its inspiration. Maybe China will go the same way. Of course, there is more commercial pressure to make products down to a price nowadays, nickel and diming on some of the components, so it could go the other way instead and quality will gradually decline.

Of course, Oakley is now part of the establishment itself and that sits somewhat at odds with a company that prided itself on innovation and doing things differently. Its greatest innovators have moved on too. We can't escape that it's a different company than the one that produced OTTs, Mars etc. But as 95%+ of my Oakley funds get sunk into x-metals, I can't really get too worked up about glasses being made in China anyway!
 
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